More than 41.4 percent of Santa Clara County residents have already filled out the 2020 Census form before the effort officially kicks off this Wednesday.

According to response data provided by the United States Census Bureau, the county self-response rate as of today put the South Bay ahead of California’s 34.1 percent.

Letters from the 2020 Census arrived in mailboxes in early March. Instead of a form to fill out, the letter offered a link and login code. For the first time, most people will be invited to complete their census questionnaire online at my2020census.gov.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Census Bureau extended its deadlines and suspended its field operations for two weeks to April 15. As such, the public is encouraged to fill out the questionnaire forms online.

Data collected in the census every 10 years is used to appropriate more than $675 billion in cumulative annual federal funding and apportionment for the House of Representatives. Census data also determines how tp map out voting precincts, congressional and state legislative districts and school districts.

If there is an undercount in California, the state could lose a seat in Congress and receive less federal funding.​​​ For more information about the local census effort, click here.